ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government has so far announced a subsidy amounting to Rs 63 billion to promote the agriculture sector, the National Assembly was informed on Thursday.
During the question-answer session, the Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada told the House on behalf of Ministry of National Food Security that the government considered the agriculture sector backbone of national economy.
The minister said that a subsidy of Rs 14 billion on fertilizers was announced in 2014-15 but due to nonexistence of the mechanism the subsidy did not materialize.
Pirzada said that in 2015-16, a subsidy of Rs 20 billion on phosphatic fertilizers was announced in the “Kissan Package” besides providing a cash subsidy of Rs 5000 per acre for cotton and rice growers having 12.5 acres land.
The minister said that in 2016-17, a subsidy of 27.96 billion was allocated for Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Urea fertilizers. He said that the subsidy included an amount of Rs 17.16 billion for Urea and Rs 10.80 billion for DAP and other Phosphatic fertilizers. However; the amount was increased to Rs 39 billion approximately, he added.
Riaz Hussain Pirzada said that during the current year, the federal government has decided to provide the cash subsidy of Rs 100 per 50 kg bag and the price of Urea shall be maintained up to Rs 1, 400 per bag in the FY 2017-18. Moreover, sales tax has been reduced from 17 percent to 5 percent for all fertilizers, he added.
